The Extreme Festival‘s national roster will return to the Aldo Scribante Raceway this coming weekend (14-15 August) with the Algoa Motorsport Club (AMSC) and Border Motorsport Club (BMSC) working together to host this event.
These efforts came after the East London Grand Prix circuit, operated by the BMSC, was informed of the temporary withdrawal of its permit to host such events. While the decision was made at the end of June, it came in response to a list of safety upgrades, prescribed by the governing body, Motorsport South Africa, not being completed in time, and with reasonable doubt that they would be completed before the scheduled event date.
Subsequently, the event was moved to Aldo Scribante Raceway, but with BMSC becoming the event organisers. This also marks the first time that the national roster will visit a circuit for back-to-back events. With the circuit also hosting the regional roster’s event this past weekend, it also marks the first time that one circuit will host two Extreme Festival events on consecutive weekends.
Originally, only five of the eight national series would’ve formed part of the event. However, the Volkswagen Rookie Cup has since been added. Originally scheduled for the beginning of September in Gqeberha, the Rookies will contest the fifth round of their championship with the rest of the national tour. They will start Saturday’s race programme with the first of their three races, the only series to have three races on the weekend.
Luke Hill leads the all-Volkswagen Polo Vivo GT series by six points, despite his last win coming in Round 2, also at the same circuit. However, he does have a 100% podium-finish rate for the year. Sebastian Dias, the driver who won the other Round 2 race, is second, and finds himself six points clear of Sebastian Venkov. The latter will look to continue his form, which saw him take both wins at the circuit in Round 4.
It is still a three-point margin at the top of the Investchem MSA4 championship, after Aqil Alibhai and Mikel Bezuidenhout shared the wins and took an equal number of points away from the previous round. However, Karabo Malemela is now 32 points behind Bezuidenhout after he had a challenging outing. This also sees him now in the sights of Renzo Ribeiro, Shrien Naidoo, and Guido Bidoli.
In the Astron Energy Polo Cup, Hannes Scheepers holds a 37-point advantage. He has won seven of this year’s nine races, but the other winner in the all-Volkswagen Polo GTI series, Charl Smalberger, will look to keep his title hopes alive as well, while fending off Mauro da Luz.
Wins in the Masters Class have also been limited to two drivers thus far. The defending double champion, Wayne Masters, has six of those to his name. Derick Smalberger is the other winner, and this pair also shared the wins in the last encounter, but it is Masters who holds the 19-point advantage. John Kruger is 12 points behind Smalberger.
The South African Touring Cars points table is currently dominated by the Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI pair of Julian van der Watt and KC Ensor-Smith, with a 17-point difference between them. Jason Coetzee (Toyota Corolla) retained his third place after taking his maiden win in the series at Aldo Scribante back in June. The other winner from the previous round, Robert Wolk (Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI), will look to continue his superb form.
The SATC SupaCup will line up on circuit behind them. Jason Loosemore is currently 29 points clear of Rory Atkinson in the all-Volkswagen Polo SupaCup series. Judd Bertholdt will be looking for his maiden win.
The GR Cup battles are also set to continue, with the GR 86 Class to head up this field. Connor Weston and Kobus Reyneke maintained their four-point gap at the top. This pair have shared all the wins this year, including the two at the previous round.
Nabil Abdool remained unbeaten in the GR Media Challenge, and now has a 17-point lead over Craig Nicholson, who is 18 points clear of Justin Ford.
Werner Venter is now the leader in the GR Dealer Challenge, despite still looking for his maiden win. However, his six-point advantage will certainly be under threat this weekend, with Devon Scott, who won the year’s first four races, back on the grid. Scott is tied with Paul de Vos, who won the other four races, and with the latter missing this weekend’s action, Theo Brits and Marius Claasen, both six points adrift, will look to catch up.
Spectator tickets can be purchased at the Aldo Scribante Raceway entrance gate, priced at R140 per adult, R80 per pensioner, and free for children under 12. Saturday’s 13-race programme is set to commence at 09:55, and will be broadcast live on the Extreme Festival website.